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Holden Caufield was a whiny brat that needed to have his *ss kicked and/or be heavily medicated.

Both of which happen in the text. He's in an institution to begin and end the novel implying medication and he's "sincerely" beaten up by Stradlater in the first few chapters.

From the Onion:

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger

In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. "He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers," said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don't have to look at them for four years. "There will never be another voice like his." Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it's just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything.

I have a quote from the book on my cabinet doors of book/comic/notable quotations, of something about having goals in life (isn't that non-Alanis ironic, considering the protagonist?), but that's about the end of my enjoyment of it.